ETSX and fork travel settings...

I've got an ETSX that I really like. I bought a Fox Fork Vanilla 125RL to replace the crappy Marz 100mm that came on it.

Lately I've been wondering if any ETSX owners out there run your forks at 100mm, or have you all been using the 125mm fork they have been coming out with? I wondering how the handling might change for me if I dropped the travel to 100mm...

I've got an ETSX that I really like. I bought a Fox Fork Vanilla 125RL to replace the crappy Marz 100mm that came on it.

Lately I've been wondering if any ETSX owners out there run your forks at 100mm, or have you all been using the 125mm fork they have been coming out with? I wondering how the handling might change for me if I dropped the travel to 100mm...

Anyone?

I have the 05' ETSX with the 130 mm Talas fork. I run the travel down at 120 mm. This makes the bike responsive enough for even the tightest singletrack. Anything less just feels twitchy and unstable to me.

I've got an ETSX that I really like. I bought a Fox Fork Vanilla 125RL to replace the crappy Marz 100mm that came on it.

Lately I've been wondering if any ETSX owners out there run your forks at 100mm, or have you all been using the 125mm fork they have been coming out with? I wondering how the handling might change for me if I dropped the travel to 100mm...

The Fox Talas is the killer app fork for the ETSX. It is great being able to wind the travel down to 90mm for the climb and wind it back up to the 130mm travel for downhill technical stuff. It makes a big difference in the bike's handling.

The Fox Talas is the killer app fork for the ETSX. It is great being able to wind the travel down to 90mm for the climb and wind it back up to the 130mm travel for downhill technical stuff. It makes a big difference in the bike's handling.

He already has the Vanilla just wants to know if it is better to use the 100 mm or 125 mm setting.

100mm worked best for me

Hi there

I've never been able to ride my ETS-X with anything longer than 110mm upfront. Anything more and it felt like falling from the back of the bike.
Could be related to the fact that I'm one of those short legged - long bodies kind of guys. This means that since my seatpost is not very much extended a long travel fork brings the handlebar level even higher than the saddle level.

MY wife's '03 ETS-X30 came with a Marzocchi Pro ETA - is the the crappy Marz in question?

I haven't ridden her bike much, but I like the ETA adjustment, which is, I believe, adjusts from 105mm to 85mm. For our riding (Rock-it at Aliso Woods, Laguna Niguel/Laguna Beach and similar), the 105mm is plenty. It's certainly better and more adjustable than my 1998 Judy T2, which, by the way, works well for me...

crappy Marz

Since some of you have asked... The crappy Marz fork was a 100mm air MXR? I couldn't ever get the presure right with any shock pump I tried. It also seemed to flex more back and forth than it ever did go up and down in its travel. It came on the bike when I got it in 2002.5.

I've never been able to ride my ETS-X with anything longer than 110mm upfront. Anything more and it felt like falling from the back of the bike.
Could be related to the fact that I'm one of those short legged - long bodies kind of guys. This means that since my seatpost is not very much extended a long travel fork brings the handlebar level even higher than the saddle level.

Prost,
Braumeister

I need to thank Braumeister and Gearhead. I just got an ETSX-70 and am usually sketchy about making changes to factory settings but on your advice I dialed the fork down 3 clicks which I suppose goes from 130mm to 121mm and it feels much better. Rereading this I might even dial it down more. Thanks a million guys.